Hand Drawn Animation

United Nations

Emergency Telecommunications Cluster

It’s not every day you get contacted by a worldwide programme which is part of the United Nations system, so when we were we thought it was a good idea to listen carefully to their request!

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, and is a voluntarily funded branch of the United Nations. In emergencies, they get food to where it is needed – saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict, and natural disasters.

The WFP got in touch with us regarding a scheme they’re leading called the ETC – Emergency Telecommunications Cluster.

When disaster hits in an area where there’s no reliable internet connection, it can cause problems – perhaps aid workers need to order food, medicine, or vital equipment, or in areas where outbreaks such as Ebola have occurred, perhaps critical laboratory results need to be e-mailed to colleagues promptly and securely.

This urgent need for the internet is where the ETCs come into play. The “cluster” is formed of specialist access points, which aid the facilitation of an internet signal which is accessed by UN agencies, hospitals, aid workers…anyone involved in the humanitarian effort, in fact.

We were absolutely thrilled to be asked to contribute to this fantastic cause by creating a hand drawn animation, which the WFP will use to explain their scheme to their corporate partners, current staff, external funders, and others.

Our hand drawn animation allowed us to communicate some complicated information – such as how exactly the ETCs work – in an accessible, easy to understand, and visually stimulating way. Once the animation was completed even we could understand what VSATs are and how they work!

We really can’t say enough about this scheme. Obviously we love working with all our clients, but it feels particularly fantastic to produce a video for something as life affirming as the ETC service.

For more information about the service, please do visit this link. For more on the World Food Programme, visit this page.